Natalie Portman and James Franco have dual Entertainment Weekly covers this week, both chosen for the “Oscar Preview” issue. It’s possible that the somewhat oddly-timed statement to EW just hours after her rep confirmed her pregnancy and engagement was all part of one larger cover story/interview. So, I apologize for putting it in more nefarious shades – yes, Natalie is campaigning for an Oscar, and yes, she’s the frontrunner for Best Actress, but no, she’s not just calling up industry magazines to give quotes about her pregnancy. Anyway, in the interview excerpts EW has released, Natalie talks about how she felt like she was “literally going to die” while working on Black Swan. Um… and not because she was so skinny, either. It was because she was “so wrapped up” in the role. Also, she talks about that lesbian scene…
Natalie Portman took her fans by surprise this week with a big announcement: She’s pregnant and engaged to marry her Black Swan choreographer, Benjamin Millepied. But that’s hardly the only excitement she’s got coming in the new year. The 29-year-old actress — who graces the cover of this week’s Oscar Race issue — is poised to score a Best Actress nomination for her career-high turn as a tormented ballerina in Black Swan, a role she says nearly destroyed her.
“There were some nights that I thought I literally was going to die,” she says. “It was the first time I understood how you could get so wrapped up in a role that it could sort of take you down.” Instead, the performance has lifted Portman into the ranks of Oscar shoe-ins this year (alongside 127 Hours star and Oscar co-host James Franco, who also gets his own EW cover this week) and turned Black Swan into an unlikely box office star — with a little help from a steamy love scene between Portman and co-star Mila Kunis.
“Everyone was so worried about who was going to want to see this movie,” Portman says. “I remember them being like, ‘How do you get guys to a ballet movie? How do you get girls to a thriller?’ And the answer is a lesbian scene. Everyone wants to see that.”
[From EW]
I saw Black Swan (review here), and the lesbian scene is completely overly-hyped. I mean, it’s not even really titillating and it’s not supposed to be either. Whatever. If straight dudes are going to a ballet movie hoping to see some hot lesbian action, they’re going to be sorely disappointed.
Two more pieces of Portman news – EW also has another story about how her pregnancy could effect her Oscar chances. Their prediction – judging from Oscar history – is that it might be a wash. Preggos like Rachel Weisz, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Meryl Streep have all won Oscars while knocked up, but there’s another list of preggos who lost (Annette Bening, Cate Blanchett, Marcia Gay Harden, Glenn Close). I don’t know… I’m still going with my first reaction, which was and is that Natalie’s pregnancy really helps her campaign. It humanizes her, makes her more accessible, and it also makes her more in-demand for interviews and thus, additional promotion for the film (and for her Oscar campaign).
Lastly – the trailer for Natalie’s new movie, The Other Woman, was just released a few days ago, and it’s everywhere for some reason. It looks like a smallish independent film, and it looks like Lisa Kudrow has a smallish part. Natalie plays a younger woman who starts screwing her older married boss, the boss leaves his wife, he and Natalie get married, she gets pregnant and then the baby dies. And then… like the rest of the movie is about her trauma. You couldn’t pay me to see this movie.
Keep baiting voters for that Oscar, emotionally barren wooden bitch. you’re not getting it.
Michelle Williams ftw.
I just don’t like her. But, I really don’t care about the Oscars. Both EW covers are kind of blah. The mustache on James Franco is not doing it for me.
I still don’t see why other actors and professionals in the Entertainment field would give a flying fig about Nat being pregnant. If the American people or the average Joe or every day Susie were to be voting for the winner of the Oscar, it would make total sense that her being preggers sways some people. However I can not see people who are IN the business and should understand talent and AWARD talent…even if they get it wrong now and again…caring about her pregnancy. Nat has been so amazing in so many films and Nat was so amazing in Black Swan, if she wins the Best Actress Oscar for it, it will be well deserved not because she was knocked up.
LOL The Lesbian scene was certainly over hyped but I will say it did sway a small number of men who needed that EXTRA shove to go…because seriously it doesn’t come off as some cutesy ballet movie, a guy would go see it even without the lesbian scene but still it helped.
LOL You made me laugh saying you can’t be paid to see The Other Woman, the plot doesn’t sound very promising. I have seen some TV spots for Nat’s movie with Ashton and nothing has pecked my interest in those spots…its not even funny as it thinks it is, I hate its being released before the Oscars. I feel like its the Norbit for Nat. 🙁
Um, I know she’s a lock, but what if she’s not nominated? Sometimes it happens. It would suck so bad to be her if she’s not, since everyone is assuming she will. I’m hoping Annett Benning and Julianne Moore and the ladies from Winter’s Bone and True Grit (I’m too lazy to look up names) get nominated. Other than that I’m indifferent.
I still like her.
I don’t think she is going to win it’s Annette Bennings’ year she has the connections and she has been nominated and passed over way too many times. Plus her personal story about what she is going through with her daughter is pretty crazy. I think the Academy knows that eventually Natalie will be at the podium. And again the movie isn’t as great as her performance is.
“Oh ANNIE!”…thats all I hear when I look at her stick figure face
Annette was great in her role too, but Natalie blew me away in Black Swan. No interest in her other two upcoming films really, but I really think she deserves it for that one.
It seems weird that people’s voting would be affected in either way by an actress being pregnant, doesn’t make much sense to me. If someone pulled a Mel Gibson, sure, I could see real life influencing voting, but a pregnancy?
If straight dudes are going to a ballet movie hoping to see some hot lesbian action
to which i say, if you’re at a ballet movie, you deserve anything that happens, dude.
so we’re okay with posting comments calling people “emotionally barren wooden bitches”? Yuck.
I’m sick and tire of hearing from NP. She has become so annoying in the past months ala Megan Fox. I think she’s a good actress but Annette or Michelle were better in their roles than she was at BS. I get the impression that most of the time NP is overreacting instead of acting. And the Oscar goes to….Annette!!!!
I have been a fan of hers for years. One of my all time favorite movies is ‘Anywhere But Here’. I hope everything goes well with her pregnancy and I think she does deserve the Oscar.
I disagree that Natalie has a lock on the Oscar. Annette Bening will be nominated again and she will be the sentimental favorite. The poor woman always loses out to younger, lesser actors, if you ask me. It’s Annette’s time and I think she will win it. (Besides, Annette actually played a gay person and she and Julianne Moore actually had actual love/sex scenes and they both handled them well.) So . . . Annette FTW!!
I really think the covers are cute. Getting all gussied up for the Oscars? Adorable! Although, the porn ‘stache on JF? I’m SO over it. As Kaiser would say….SO TACKY!
Being pregnant might humanize her and make her more accessible – IF she is the type of expectant mum who gets all gushy, vulnerable, emotional and soft at being “with child”.
But on the other hand, it might harden her to the public – as she is already vegan and into strict healthy living and enviromental consciousness. She might be all: “THIS is bad for the child and THAT is bad for the child, and I’m only eating THIS, and I’m not allowing THAT anywhere near me because of toxins, etc. People might feel more alienated about her and feel she is a tad snobbish.
I like her though – I think she is sweet and intelligent but gets a bad rap sometimes. I don’t care if she wins the Oscar or not – she is young and will get plenty more chances.
I haven’t seen The Kids Are Alright yet, but I have long admired the works of both Julianne Moore and Anette Benning.
“If the American people or the average Joe or every day Susie were to be voting for the winner of the Oscar, it would make total sense that her being preggers sways some people. However I can not see people who are IN the business and should understand talent and AWARD talent…even if they get it wrong now and again…caring about her pregnancy.”
@LOVE ANGELINA: Completely agree with this. The fact is that long before there was any whiff of pregnancy and engagement for Portman, she and Annette Benning were considered locks for Oscar noms, and the two front-runners – and with good reason. Besides giving two great performances they are both well respected in the industry and have a lot of support – they’ve each been in the business a long time and have both already been nominated previously. It’s honestly hard to say who will end up edging out the other at this point, but I doubt either Portman’s pregnancy or Benning’s familial problems will factor at all into Academy voter’s choice.
On the one hand, Portman is young and as mln76 pointed out, voters in the industry know that she will be back at the podium again. Her January release might act against her (ala Norbit for Eddie Murphy), but on the other hand it will also give her front and center media promotion leading up to the Oscars as she inevitably promotes it. In her favor is the fact that she went through a physical transformation as well – something Oscar voters love to reward, and, unlike Benning, her movie succeeds and fails on her merits alone. She is literally front and center in every scene, and is the only true lead of the film.
As for Benning, she might garner the sympathy vote for the fact that she has been at the party twice before and never walked away with the title – and many have thought she was robbed on both occasions. Therefore she might be awarded more for her body of work than the performance itself (something that happens quite often with the Academy). Going against her is the fact that she has been completely absent from the press of late (and doesn’t seem interested in campaigning in the slightest), her film came out months ago so doesn’t have the recent buzz of Portman’s, and unlike Portman, Benning isn’t the only star of her film (nor does the film rely completely on her to succeed). In fact she might find herself nominated opposite her co-female lead, in which case they might split the votes altogether.
Also I would add that I wouldn’t write Portman off in the connections department – Julia Roberts took out a full page ad in a trade paper recently to show her support for Portman. She’s also worked with (and become friendly with) many other big names – the types that are willing to not only give her their votes, but influence others through screening parties, etc.
#10 – i agree.
She was fabulous as a child in The Professional. And I think she’s absolutely gorgeous.
Haven’t seen Black Swan. I think she’s kind of flakey and buys into a typically Hollywood mindset, but I cannot figure out why she inspires as much hostility as she does.
I read that quote in Rachel Zoe’s voice.
You know, I bet if Natalie makes a movie about, say, a pregnant lesbian ballerina who, when practicing choreography alone late at night in the theater during a long weekend has a spotlight fall on her, trapping her leg, and she has no choice but to cut it off in order to survive and get to the hospital to deliver her baby, she’d be a shoe-in for the little gold man. They could call it, ‘Labor Day’. Unless Mr. Millepied wants the role, in which case we can stick with ‘The Nutcracker’.
Am I the only one hoping that neither of them get the Oscar nomination? 🙂 I am already tired of hearing about them both.
But I would love for Mila Kunis to get that supporting actor nod.
I have notice, that the chatter about Timberlake getting a Oscar nomination, has stopped. So that is one thing I can be happy about.
she is losing her likeable factor, and quickly.
Has she had something done to her nose — it’s looking too characterless? Maybe that’s why she thought she was going to die.
Isn’t she being a bit hyperbolic since she got paid good money to make this movie and she was far from dying? Remember a lot of people are out of work and not making any money, and our brave and selfless servicemen and women actually are risking their lives for a lot less pay and acclaim.
I “liked” Black Swan, but I didn’t love it like I have all other Aronofsky films. I thought Portman was good in the role, but not Oscar great. I much preferred Kunis’ character, and her portrayal of her.
@Hautie even if Mila got nominated it wouldn’t be for best actress it would be in the supporting category. But I doubt it. I think there are more deserving actresses Barbra Hershey or Winona would be great though.
Oh shut up The motion picture academy has done plenty of dumb crap in the past as for example giving Oliver best picture of 1968 sure it’s a great movie but Rachel Rachel deserved the award better pasing and direction though from a novice director who by that time had been nominated and lost best actor 4 times correct Cat on A Hot Tin Roof in 1958 The Hustler in 1961 Hud in 1963 & Cool Hand Luke in 1967 and when Paul lost for the hustler in April 1962 Joanne Refused to congratulate Maximilian Schell who won for Judgement at Nurenburg until three days later.
the shoe in doesn’t always win for example in 1958 for 57 the shoe in was Deborah Kerr it was her 4th nomination of six all of which she lost 1950 to Olivia Dehavalind for The Heiress 1954 to Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday 1957 Ingrid Bergman in Anastasia 1958 to Joanne Woodward in The Faces Of Eve 1959 to Susan Hayward for I Want To Live and 1961 Elizabeth Taylor for Butterfield 8 on her fourth concecutive nomination of 5 in her career and she waltzed away with her second in 1967 for Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolfe
Is punctuation a lost art?
@ Devilgirl….umm…That’s just Courtney….her posts are usually bizarre….
Honestly, I’m astounded that NP and Franco could go from their very wooden acting in Star Wars & Spiderman to the point people are talking Oscars for them.
LOVE ANGELINA:
December 30th, 2010 at 9:33 am
I still don’t see why other actors and professionals in the Entertainment field would give a flying fig about Nat being pregnant. If the American people or the average Joe or every day Susie were to be voting for the winner of the Oscar, it would make total sense that her being preggers sways some people. However I can not see people who are IN the business and should understand talent and AWARD talent…even if they get it wrong now and again…caring about her pregnancy. Nat has been so amazing in so many films and Nat was so amazing in Black Swan, if she wins the Best Actress Oscar for it, it will be well deserved not because she was knocked up.
____________
This is the first time I agree with you, LOL
Anyway, I’m pretty sure that the academy gives an f. about her pregnancy. I don’t know how exactly the nominations work, or what is the criterion in chosing the winner, the only thing I know is that oscars usually have nothing to do with talent.
Ps: I wish everyone Happy Holidays!
what a ridiculous thing to say, she thought she was gonna die??? it’s just acting, natalie, it’s not like you’re curing cancer or saving the world so stop taking yourself so seriously.
btw, black swan is an okay movie, not even remotely deserving to be in the “great” category.
Straight guys went to see this because it’s a Darren Aronofsky movie. My dude sat through the opening ballet sequences bored off his ass but stayed because he kept saying ‘I’m sticking with it, it’s Aronofsky’. He loved it (and he hates dancing, singing or any kind of culture, lol)
She is so over-exposed. I used to love her. She gave an incredible interview for The Actor’s Studio. Now, not so much. Over-rated these days. Oscars don’t seem to mean much about acting anymore. Starving yourself, maybe.
Dear Kaiser,
According to your comment policy, I think you should delete leona’s comment – not mine. Anyway, i don’t really care that you moderate me, my real pleasure is that you read me…;-)
lio – did one of your comments go to spam? I looked, but I couldn’t find anything.
I’m starting to get really sick of her, she is campaigning too much. Way over-hyped. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Academy will agree.
Never liked NP or her acting… To me, she always sounds like she is performing her lines while reading from the script.. Kinda one note. Then she throws her hat in the ring with Roman Polanski.. Yeah, I wont be rooting for her in any Oscar race.. EVER.
i am confused. what film is bening allegedly a lock for? please don’t say “the kids are all right.” if anyone deserves a best actress nod from that film it’s moore. bening plays the same neurotic, annoying character that she plays in EVERY film, but for some strange reason nobody ever calls her out on it. is it because she’s older? because she’s married to beatty? whatever it is, it’s quite annoying.
I think she’s adorable. I am really surprised to see so many negative comments.
i agree, judyjudy. i didn’t realize until recently that people have such strong feelings about natalie. idgi. she’s not an attention whore, she rarely does interviews…is this just a case of people basing their opinions on her bitchface and movie roles? LOL. it’s weird. i know there’s 1 poster on here (liana?) who is a former neighbor of hers so i understand the source of her dislike for her. but with everyone else, it’s weird.
I’m rooting for Julianne Moore for the Oscar nomination and the eventual win.
@Oi: So did I. Like Buh-Na-Nas! I.Die.
Courtney: I love how you relate practically every post to Paul and Joanne; here and elsewhere.
Judging from the top pic versus the other ones, I’m gonna recommend that Natalie’s makeup artist stop using pink blush on her. It looks awful! May be it’s the lighting, but the first picture is SO much better.
@Kazoo
Really? I thought she did a great job – I really believed her character. I haven’t seen any of her other roles except in American Beauty, so maybe I’m missing something. Her character brought out a lot of emotions in me, including sadness, affection, and annoyance. I really liked her. But to each their own!
i know there’s 1 poster on here (liana?) who is a former neighbor of hers so i understand the source of her dislike for her.
********
Yeah, it’s me, but I still think she’s a very good actress with the right material and she was better (as were Cassel, Kunis, and Hershey) than the “Black Swan” script deserved AND she should be nominated for an Academy Award.
And I would see “The Other Woman.” The script was really good.
*shrugs* I saw Black Swan. I thought Natalie was beyond fantastic. When she’s actually given good material, the girl can act. The movie was also “artsy chic” enough for her, so I’m not surprised she did so well.
And this is coming from someone who stopped being a fan the second she saw her name on those “free Polanski” petitions signed by actors and actresses.
I’m not saying this will make me stan for her or something – it won’t. But wow, she nailed the role of Nina.
I dont want to see a lesbian scene especially if its token to get men to come see the movie! How stupid and sexist.
Lets not forget Natalie IS a Polanski supporter. I for one will NEVER see a movie with her in it.
I love Natalie. She’s so talented and stunningly beautiful. Her baby is going to be so incredibly gorgeous.
This going to sound a little lame but here it goes: I’ve always wanted to write a book and the plot I had in mind seems a lot like this movie. Except in my mind the baby didn’t die.
I was even thinking about calling it, “The Other Woman” but was undecided about whether or not that was too cheesy.
So I’ll probably watch it.
Natalie Portman, I don’t care how good you were in Black Swan, it doesn’t make up for those Star Wars movies. Those. F*cking. Star Wars. Movies.
People should watch this movie and overlook all the fuzz about it.. The movie deserves the credits but I keep wondering if it would have been much more amazing if Portman wasn’t the lead. Kunis I liked, I was very happy to see her pull off a serious role.
An Oscar for Portman, I’d say no.. but they’re probably gonna give it to her anyway.
Portman has always been a mediocre actress.
She lacks the natural aptitude of Winslet, Blanchett, Julianne Moore or even Amy Adams.
I would place her just below Reese Witherspoon, another mediocre actress who just trys too hard.
@ Jen D- maybe that’s my problem, i’ve seen way too many bening movies! LOL. i just looked at her filmography, and here are the films in which she plays a neurotic/controlling, shrill woman:
“the kids are all right”
“running with scissors”
“american beauty”
“the american president”
There may be others, I haven’t seen all her films, but yeah. that’s enough for me. LOL.
I will say that I think her best performance was “american beauty.” i’ve always felt she was robbed of an Oscar for it, but i really don’t like “boys don’t cry” or hillary swank, so i’m biased.
@ liana- you didn’t think the BS script was very good? i can kinda see that…there were points where i thought it could be better, but then i agree with you. i think the actors & director made it better.
I think her comment about having a lesbian scene to get everybody to see your movie is HILARIOUS. Yes, the lesbian scene in the film is just part of the overall creepiness, not intended to be sexy. However, I think straight guys will take their lesbian scenes between two famous actresses any way they can get them.